Jun 26 The First Draft

I remember the first time I finished "Nanowrimo." My big moment, when I knew that I was going to complete my first novel-length project was when I was able to tell myself that I was only writing a first draft.
Loudly I proclaimed: "This is not my novel! It’s just a first of my draft! It’s not my novel!” A feeling of freedom set in. It was all right if something wasn't the way I wanted it to be in the finished product, because it wasn’t the finished product. It was all right if I didn't like that particular line of dialogue. It was all right if I knew that I was going to have to go back and change everything, because my original plotting ideas were not panning out.

Everything was all right, because what I was writing was not my novel.

It was the first draft of a novel!

There is no such thing as a novel that is written in one draft. Everything needs editing. And, when you give yourself permission to make mistakes and carry on, knowing that you'll come back and clean up your literary mess later, writing feels a very different task. I realized that I was free to make mistakes. Not only that, but some of those mistakes I thought I made, turned out to yield wonderful things.

So, you're going to re-write it. You can fix it later. Just keep writing.

If you wait until chapter 1 is perfect before you start writing chapter 2, chapter 2 will never get written.

I tend to speed through first drafts these days. If you read one of my first drafts, you'd find it hilarious, I think. They're always full of lines like "And then I noticed the man I was talking to was actually a woman!" when I decided I had too many male characters and wanted to change a character's gender. That's just the way I write first drafts. It isn't until the second draft that I start editing... anything really.

If you're more meticulous than I am, and I'm sure most of you are, and think you might have difficulty letting yourself do this, here’s a tip: color code first drafts. If I know for a fact I've written something I need to go back and look at, I change the font color to red. If I've written something that I need to go back and research to make sure is right, I color it blue.

The color coding system is personal and best tailored to your own needs. Believe me, I know. But, if you find yourself having difficulty giving yourself permission to leave something you don't like for the second draft, I find this very useful.

So many of my writer friends struggle with finishing long projects. They run out of steam or enthusiasm, become disenchanted, or run out of time.

But, I think once you get the first draft out, no matter how bad it is, it's always easier to go back and edit. So remember: